Demian Maia
Demian Maia is a Brazilian jiu jitsu champion and a current welterweight and former middleweight mixed martial artist. He amassed several impressive submission wins inside the UFC while going undefeated until losses to Nate Marquardt and Anderson Silva. After the Middleweight Title Shot He was most recently set to face Alan Belcher. Belcher was forced to pull out of the fight a month early due to the loss of vision in his right eye requiring surgery. Maia was moved to face prospect Mario Miranda on the UFC 118 main card. He dominated Miranda on the ground en route to a unanimous decision. He next faced Kendall Grove, winningvia dominant unanimous decision. He next faced powerful wrestler Mark Munoz, losing via a close unanimous decision. Maia next faced former Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago, winning via a less-than-pleasing but nonetheless dominant unanimous decision. Maia was next set to face the Englishman Michael Bisping. Unfortunately Bisping stepped out to face Chael Sonnen and Maia was instead set to face undefeated American grappling prospect Chris Weidman. Weidman defeated Maia via a close and relatively disappointing split decision. After the loss, Maia dropped down to fight in the UFC welterweight division. Drop to 170 Maia wasted no time in signing for his welterweight debut against Korean wrestler Dong Hyun Kim. Kim was injured on a successful Maia takedown early, giving the TKO (injury) victory to Maia. Maia next faced Rick Story in his own native Brazil, choking Story out with a brutal rear-naked face crank submission in the first round. Maia next signed to face contender Jon Fitch in February 2013. He dominated Fitch most impressively en route to a unanimous decision victory. After the fight, UFC president Dana White stated that Maia was firmly in the title hunt at 170 pounds and possible to face the winner of the UFC welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and champion Georges St. Pierre in March 2013. Instead Maia called out former Strikeforce welterweight champion Tarec Saffiedine. He was also rumored to face prospect Rory MacDonald. Instead Maia next signed to face veteran Josh Koscheck. Koscheck was unfortunately soon enough injured. Maia next signed to fight former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields. Shields pulled out the upset victory defeating Maia via a close and tepidly paced split decision. Maia next called out both Rory MacDonald and undefeated former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. Maia ended up signing to fight MacDonald. MacDonald defeated Maia via a back-and-forth but clearcut unanimous decision. Maia next signed to fight wrestler Mike Pierce. Pierce was unfortunately injured rather quickly. He was replaced by newcomer and relative unknown Alexander Yakovlev. Despite some scary moments here and there Maia dominated Yakovlev en route to a clear unanimous decision win. Maia then signed to fight veteran Mike Pyle in Tulsa. Maia was injured seriously with a bone infection and was out for several months. After recovering Maia signed to return against undefeated Ryan LaFlare. Fights *Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen - The fight was veteran Chael Sonnen's return to the UFC. *Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia - Maia came into the fight undefeated in his MMA career, and it was his first loss. *Demian Maia vs. Dan Miller - Dan Miller broke his hand with the first punch he threw in the fight and it severely affected his performance. *Demian Maia vs. Kendall Grove *Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago *Chris Weidman vs. Demian Maia - Undefeated Chris Weidman was a replacement for Michael Bisping on less than two weeks notice. Weidman came into the fight undefeated. *Demian Maia vs. Dong Hyun Kim - The fight was the welterweight debut of Maia. *Demian Maia vs. Neil Magny *Demian Maia vs. Matt Brown Category:Welterweight fighters Category:Middleweight fighters Category:Jiu jitsu specialists